SSA Office Here: No Reservations

The same way they are buying shoes, sweaters and new sheets for the guest room, Islanders increasingly are using the Internet to book their ferry passage on the Steamship Authority these days.

This of course means fewer people are using the SSA Island office for their ferry reservations. Boat line governors saw that trend this summer, and upon learning that they would soon lose their lease on the reservation office at the airport, briefly considered closing it. Senior managers calculated that closing the office would save the public boat line $200,000 a year.

After some Islanders objected, the governors wisely reconsidered, and plans are now under way to lease counter space inside the airport terminal building to house the reservation office.

This is not about the SSA doing the Vineyard a favor, as recent remarks by the SSA chairman seemed to suggest, but an acknowledgment that the ferry service is not an ordinary business.

Operating efficiently is a worthy goal for the SSA, but it is important to remember that the boat line is fundamentally a lifeline for Vineyard residents. The SSA was chartered by the Massachusetts legislature 50 years ago with that critical mission in mind. Summer profits earned from tourists and seasonal travelers on the ferries are used to underwrite dependable ferry service that residents of the two Islands can rely on during the long winter.

Dependability means not only ensuring that the boats run, but providing services such as the convenience of a small office on Island where people can go and speak in person with someone about their ferry reservation, the renewal of their profile number, or their need to get a sick child home from college on short notice when the boats are sold out because it is four days before Thanksgiving.

The Island has a large population of elderly residents, some of whom do not use computers to take care of their daily business affairs. That could be reason enough alone to keep a reservation office open here.

And it is not breaking the bank. Under the adept and steady leadership of general manager and former comptroller Wayne Lamson, the boat line, with total annual operating revenues of $80 million, has not seen a deficit for decades and continues to be financially sound. It is the only ferry company in the country that operates without state and federal subsidy.

In that light, spending extra money to keep a reservation office here is small potatoes and well worth it.